


Consequences

by Misterdevere



Series: January Challenge [29]
Category: Kingsman (Movies)
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Established Harry Hart | Galahad/Gary "Eggsy" Unwin, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, M/M, Protective Merlin, Student Eggsy, teacher Merlin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-30
Updated: 2017-04-30
Packaged: 2018-10-25 16:08:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10767747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Misterdevere/pseuds/Misterdevere
Summary: Prompt: Teen Eggsy is in an abusive relationship with slightly older Harry. Super protective (but not creepy/shady) teacher Merlin finds out and deals with Harry as he sees fit.Eggsy had always been the kind of student that teachers looked forward to teaching. But that changed a few weeks ago and Merlin's determined to get to the bottom of it.





	Consequences

Eggsy was exactly the kind of student that made teaching worth it - incredibly smart, got on with everyone, just enough of a gobshite to be entertaining rather than irritating. Teachers probably aren't supposed to pick favourites but Eggsy was definitely Merlin's.

It was a good job he was though, because, Merlin was a little ashamed to admit, he probably wouldn't have noticed the difference otherwise. It was nothing major. He stopped offering answers quite as often. He smiled and laughed a little less. He was always a sleeves-rolled-up kind of guy but he had them down just a few too many times to go unnoticed.

He didn't have enough to go on to be able to report it, he could've just ignored it. Except he couldn't. He had to at least speak to him. He had Eggsy last period and took that as his chance. He waited until everyone was busy before he went over to him. "Eggsy, have you got a few moments after school? I'd like a quick word."

"Err, yeah, sure." He looked nervous. He never looked nervous. Even when he was in trouble, he just had to flash his trademark grin and he could get away with murder.

The rest of the hour dragged and everyone took particularly long to leave, while Eggsy waited, sitting on a table with his legs swinging. Once everyone had filed out, Merlin perched on his own desk, only to have someone else appear and interrupt before he could even start.

"Harry! Shit, I forgot you were coming to pick me up. I've gotta stay behind a bit, sorry babe. I'll um, I'll call you later, yeah?" Merlin had never taught Harry himself but he'd seen him around, knew who he was. He was in the year above Eggsy and he'd never given off a very nice impression. Merlin thought he seemed like a bit of an arsehole, if he was being honest, and he's the last person he would've put Eggsy with.

Harry folded his arms and frowned. "Well how long are you going to be? I can wait."

Merlin cut in before Eggsy could answer. "I'm afraid this could take a while, Mr. Hart. You might be better off heading home."

Harry narrowed his eyes at him. "I'll wait."

Merlin shrugged. "Well, if you insist. You can wait outside." Harry turned around, stepping back out into the corridor. "And you can close the door behind you." Harry huffed and pulled the door shut.

"Am I in trouble, sir?"

"No, not at all. Why, should you be?" Merlin raised an eyebrow at him.

"Me? Nah, sir, never." Eggsy put on his usual charming grin, and Merlin couldn't help smiling back before he forced himself to be serious.

"No, I just wanted to talk to you." He paused, suddenly not knowing the right thing to say. "Is everything okay, Eggsy?"

Eggsy's eyebrows knitted together. "What d'you mean?"

Merlin paused again. What did he mean? Now that he thought about it with Eggsy in front of him, it seemed stupid to say out loud, like maybe it wasn't a big deal after all. Probably just teenage hormones, exam stress, maybe getting into a scrap or two, that sort of thing. Still, he'd rather make a fool of himself than ignore it. "You've not been yourself. You're the one I usually count on to answer questions or carry discussions about things no one gives a shit about, but if I hadn't marked your book I wouldn't be sure you'd even been in the room in the last two weeks."

Eggsy looked down at the floor. "Yeah. Sorry, sir."

"It's okay, I'm not angry about it. You're a bright lad, and I know you work hard, but if there's something getting in the way of that, I can help. And just now is the first time I've seen you smile all week. I've been teaching you for three years now, I know that that's unusual for you. I just wondered if there might be something you wanted to talk about." He shifted his gaze to Eggsy's arm, just to make himself clear. Eggsy pulled his sleeves down further. "Eggsy, if you've been hurting yourse-"

"What?! No, that's not... Everything's fine, sir." His tone said it was anything but.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to assume. I hope I haven't offended you."

"Nah, it's fine. It's just..." Eggsy closed his eyes and let out a deep breath, but didn't continue.

"There is something?" Eggsy opened his eyes and looked at Merlin, the answer clear.

"If I tell you, or show you, you can't tell no one, yeah? Please, it's nothing I can't handle, I don't need you to do nothing about it." Eggsy was playing with the button on one of his sleeves, his eagerness and reluctance battling inside him.

"If there's something you want to get off your chest, I will listen, and I will do my best to help you, but I can't promise you that I will keep it to myself." Eggsy nodded his understanding but neither elaborated nor left. It had to be Eggsy's choice so Merlin kept quiet and let him decide.

It was a long few minutes before Eggsy made his mind up, nodding again as if to convince himself. He undid the button he'd been playing with and slowly folded his sleeve back a few times, revealing a forearm half covered in bruises. Merlin had to bite his tongue. He didn't know who would want to hurt Eggsy or why but getting angry about it now wasn't going to help anything. His face must have given him away a bit, though. "It ain't that big a deal. Like I said, nothing I can't handle myself. Please, sir, don't say anything."

"What happened, Eggsy? If I think you're in danger, if you've gotten into trouble or there are problems at home, I have to report it." He looked at him apologetically. He had warned him that he might not be able to keep it to himself but he still hoped the boy forgave him if it came to that.

"No, it's not like that. Everything's good at home." He did look truly horrified at the suggestion, that must be a good sign. "Look, I'm not in any real danger, I swear. If I am, I'll come and tell you and I'll let you do whatever you're meant to do. Just please not now, not for this."

Merlin sighed. He knew he should report it anyway, but Eggsy seemed desperate, and he didn't want to make the boy regret trusting him. "Okay. What _do_ you want me to do then?"

"Nothing. I weren't gonna say nothing, I didn't think anyone would even notice, but you asked and I didn't want you thinking I'm just slacking, and I just," he shrugged. "I guess I sort of wanted someone to know. Well, not exactly, but... I dunno."

"It's okay, I understand." Merlin smiled gently and it seemed to put Eggsy at ease a little. "If you're sure, I won't say anything yet. But I'll be keeping an eye out. And if you change your mind or if you want to talk again, you can come to me at any time, okay?"

The tension visibly drained from Eggsy. "Yeah, I will. Thanks, sir."

Merlin nodded. "Right, you'd better get going."

Eggsy agreed and grabbed his stuff, making his way to the door. "I'll see ya tomorrow then." Merlin hummed in agreement. Eggsy opened the door, Harry was still waiting. "Ready to go, babe?"

"About bloody time." Harry grabbed Eggsy's arm and pulled him in the direction of the exit. Merlin winced in sympathy - was that on purpose or did he not know? He was pretty sure he had his answer when he heard him again from a little way down the corridor, a sharp edge to his voice. Harry had probably assumed they were far enough to be out of earshot but it was an old building and sound carried. "What the fuck was that about?"

"Nothing really, just going over some of my work. You know that essay I had to hand in last week? I asked for a bit of extra feedback, that's all." To Eggsy's credit, his lie was completely convincing. It was just concerning that he felt the need to lie. He wasn't sure if Harry didn't answer or if he just couldn't hear them any more.

Eggsy came in the next day and took a seat at the back of the room, away from most of the class so Merlin went over to him the first chance he got. He'd seen the cut on his lip the second he walked through the door, but up close he also noticed a fairly well covered but still faintly visible bruise on his temple, and that he hadn't written a thing all lesson. Not that Eggsy was paying him as much attention, or any at all, in fact.

"Do we need to talk?" Eggsy jumped and looked up, and for a moment like he was going to snap at him, but apparently thought better of it as he looked away with a mumbled 'yeah'. Merlin nodded. "Go and wait in the faculty office, it should be empty. I'll get someone to cover and I'll be right there."

Eggsy gathered his stuff and slipped out of the room, going to sit by what was usually Merlin's desk. Merlin followed five minutes later and took his usual seat. "Harry did this."

"No, course he didn't." Eggsy forced a bit of a laugh. Merlin stopped him with a look that said it wasn't a question. "It was an accident."

"I'm not stupid, Eggsy. And neither are you."

"He didn't mean to hurt me, not that much. He was angry." Eggsy shrugged it off.

"That's not an excuse, Eggsy. There is no excuse." It was honestly more than a little disturbing how nonchalant Eggsy seemed about it.

"We was meant to be going out yesterday, but I forgot. He made plans and everything, had to cancel them 'cause we left late."

"Because I asked you to stay behind." It wasn't so much a response to Eggsy as it was just thinking out loud.

Eggsy immediately regretted saying it. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. It ain't your fault."

"You've nothing to apologise for. It's not yours either." Eggsy looked confused, like that thought hadn't even occurred to him. Merlin frowned at that. "You do know that, don't you?"

"I should've remembered or let him know, or said I couldn't stay." It seemed like he was mentally listing off a million other reasons why it _was_ his fault but he kept them to himself.

"You stayed because I asked you to, because you've not been yourself, because of what he'd already done. It's nobody's fault but his." Merlin felt a bit like he was spelling something out to a child - not that Eggsy was stupid, or in fact a child, but it was all so clear to him and Eggsy just couldn't see it. Eggsy nodded but didn't seem entirely convinced. "How long has this been going on?"

"We've been together about three months, it's been like this for maybe half of that, but worse the last couple of weeks." He was obviously upset about it, but still eerily calm.

"Christ. I am sorry, Eggsy, I should have realised sooner." He felt like he'd failed Eggsy by not noticing. Given half the chance, Eggsy seemed happy to get it off his chest. Merlin hoped he wouldn't feel bitter about not being given the chance earlier.

"Nah, it's fine. No one did. He ain't stupid neither, I could always just cover it up. And it was easier to act normal at first, as well." Merlin didn't know how to answer that. It certainly hadn't made him feel any better. "So what happens now?"

"Well, I'll have to report it to your head of year, and to your mother, unless there's any reason not to, and I'd like you to speak to our counsellor. Since this hasn't happened on school property or during school hours, we can't take any disciplinary action as a school, but teachers and staff can be made aware that you're not to be together at any time, unless completely necessary."

"No!" Eggsy had been quiet through their entire conversation and the abruptness of it startled Merlin. "Shit. Sorry. I just... I don't want everyone knowing. I can't tell my mum, it'll kill her. She don't even know I've got a boyfriend. And we ain't got classes together or nothing, it'll be fine."

While that was true, and he could understand him not wanting it to be public knowledge, he couldn't do nothing again. "It's our job - my job - to make sure you're safe."

"Yeah, I know, but... do you really have to do all that? Please, there must be something else you can do." Eggsy had that same desperate, frantic nervousness about him and Merlin did his best to keep him calm.

"What would you like to happen now?" Going against the boy's wishes wouldn't do any good, it was best to do what he wanted, within reason.

"Talking to the counsellor would probably be good, I wanna do that." He paused for a minute, obviously thinking it over. "What I say to them, it's private, init?" Merlin nodded. "So anyone else that has to know I'm seeing them, couldn't we just say it's about something else? Or just not tell them what it's about? I don't want any of the other teachers knowing, and I definitely don't want my mum knowing. And I um," Eggsy cleared his throat, his eyes starting to water. "He's gonna kill me. I dunno how he could not, but I don't want him knowing I've grassed him up. That's probably why he picked me, 'cause he knows I'd never grass anyone up, but I can't take any more, I can't carry on keeping secrets. I just want it to stop."

It was hard for Merlin to hear him talk like that and it took everything in him to stay calm and professional. "Okay. So we agree you'll speak to the counsellor. To have that arranged, it has to go through your head of year, but I can be vague about the details. You may be excused from lessons to go to your sessions, and your teachers may need to know where you're going but they need not have any idea what it's for. Or if possible, your sessions could be arranged during my lessons so none of them should know about it at all. I see no reason to go against your wishes and contact home myself, and I will make it abundantly clear to anybody else involved that you wish for your mother not to be informed." Eggsy nodded, looking infinitely more relaxed. "As far as Mr. Hart is concerned, I'm afraid there isn't anything we can do in an official capacity that would allow you to maintain your anonymity, and nothing at all that we can do to keep you apart outside of school. That is unless you wish to alert the police, in which case you would have our full support."

"Nah, I don't want that. I mean I do, maybe he deserves to be punished for it but... well, y'know." Merlin did know. There was no guarantee that Harry would be prosecuted, or that they'd even believe Eggsy, or put it down to anything more than boys being boys. There was a good chance that, even though Eggsy was a minor and wouldn't be named officially, his teachers and classmates, and most likely his family, would know what had happened. And maybe most importantly, Harry would know.

Merlin nodded, trying to take that on board and come up with a solution. After a few minutes, he was pretty sure he had one, or at least he was sure he could find one with enough digging. "Eggsy, if you're serious about him being punished, I have an idea - the less about which you know, the better - that would ensure that happens without having your name dragged through the mud. But I would like your permission to act in a... less that official manner."

"You're not gonna like..." Eggsy trailed off, Merlin looking at him expectantly, before continuing with a quirk to his lip, "I dunno, put out a hit on him or something."

That didn't make Merlin any less confused. "Eggsy, I'm not quite sure who you think I am or why you think it's in my power to do that but no, I'm not going to put out a hit on him."

"Oh. Well then, yeah, I guess?"

"I can't guarantee anything before tomorrow. What about in the meantime?" The last thing he wanted to do was send Eggsy away again and leave him in danger. 

"Oh, don't worry about that. I weren't seeing him today anyway, he ain't in. And I can always not see him tomorrow as well." It only took a minute to check the school system and see that Harry was in fact not in, and if everything went to plan, Eggsy wouldn't have to worry about tomorrow. It was enough to satisfy him that Eggsy would be okay.

To everyone else, Merlin might've been just a history teacher, but he did have hidden talents and he was rather, well, talented, so it didn't take him much time or effort to hack into Harry's phone and computer. He figured there was a fair chance that there were others before Eggsy and that there might be someone incriminating to find either way, and he was not disappointed.

The thing about Harry being in the year above Eggsy was that while Harry was already 16, Eggsy was barely 15. Or more specifically that Harry was already legal while Eggsy was still underage. Which is why, when Merlin stumbled across photos of Eggsy, plenty of which were either explicit or full of evidence of his abuse, Merlin felt like he'd struck gold. He had thought about a more permanent way to get rid of Harry but that was less punishment than he deserved and Merlin was up for more of a challenge, so the plan was to find something, even just messages, that put him in a bad enough light to get the police involved, or at the very least give him something to hold over Harry, but this gave him a much better one.

It took most of the night but he knew it would be worth the result. He set up a website using Harry's details and Eggsy's pictures, hidden enough that no one else would find it, but still there to point the police to. He transferred money through the site to an account in Harry's name - nothing that could be traced back to him, of course - and set everything up to look completely legitimate. One quick anonymous tip to the police and all the evidence was there. Harry was no longer looking at possibly being done for hitting his boyfriend, but possession and distribution of indecent images of a child.

Okay, so Harry hadn't actually done that, but in Merlin's eyes, it was no worse than what he _had_ done, and the punishment would definitely be no more than he deserved. And the best part was that, given the type of crime, Eggsy wouldn't have to be the one to press charges, he wouldn't be publicly named, and Harry couldn't blame him for setting him up - Eggsy was smart, but not that smart, not yet.

The next morning, the door to Merlin's classroom flew open and Eggsy walked right up to his desk. "Harry's been arrested."

Merlin sat back in his chair, putting on a look of mild surprise. "Oh. I see. What happened?"

"I think you know exactly what happened." Eggsy looked like he was holding himself back from something, his expression unreadable. It was unnerving. Maybe he'd gone too far. Eggsy threw himself at Merlin, who was surprised to be pulled into a tight hug when he'd half expected a punch. He seemed to catch himself a few moments later though, jumping back as if Merlin was on fire. "Sorry, that was... Shouldn't have done that. Thank you. So much."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, I'm sure," he gave Eggsy a sly smile. "But you're very welcome." Eggsy smiled back and nodded before going to leave. "And Eggsy?" He was almost at the door but stopped and turned back to Merlin. "I am sorry. That this happened, that I didn't do anything sooner. I hope things are better for you from here."

Eggsy rolled his eyes and shook his head, as if Merlin had just said the daftest thing in the world, but his gratitude was clear. "Everything's good, sir."

It was good to see Eggsy back to his usual self after that, a smile back on his face and a spring back in his step. Harry wouldn't be doing so well, he was sure, but he tended not to think about it, and he didn't regret a thing.

**Author's Note:**

> Just in case it matters to anyone, a lot of the discussion between Merlin and Eggsy is based on personal experience, and the way that Merlin deals with Harry follows from a discussion about the prompt, it didn't just come to me out of nowhere.
> 
> I would love feedback on this so if you could please take a few seconds of your time to give me some, I would be very, very grateful.


End file.
